Blessi ngs--Life with an Icelandic Horse

As a little girl, I always wanted a pony for Christmas. Santa never brought me a pony. So in my late 40s, I started taking horseback riding lessons. When I turned 50, I got my first horse, an Icelandic named Blessi (Veigar frá Búðardal). Little did I know how much fun life with an Icelandic was going to be. Blessi has a unique perspective on life. I hope you enjoy reading about it as much as I enjoy Blessi. And you will probably read about my cats from time to time.

Saturday, August 11, 2018

My Icelandic horse Blessi really is my muse. So far he has been mentioned in all three of my articles published by Equus magazine in the past year. This month, "Blessi's mysterious nosebleed" is the EQ Case Report.

"On the day before a holiday, a gelding's sudden nasal problem worries his owner as a veterinarian searches for the cause..."

One
day Blessi was discovered bleeding from both nostrils or exhibiting
bilateral nasal epistaxis in medical terms. Dr. Weeks, Blessi's vet
from Gig Harbor, WA, became a medical Sherlock Holmes as he tried to
make a diagnosis. I learned lots of new words such as exercise-induced
pulmonary hemorrhage, guttoral pouch mycosis, aspergillus....We learned
from where the bleeding was originating but not the cause. Luckily, the
nose bleed stopped by itself after two days with no other
consequences.

I
noticed that the cross section drawing of the horse's nasal cavity used in the article looks
like it was inspired by Blessi--flaxen chestnut, mealy nose, limited
forelock that Blessi has in comparison to other Icelandics but luxurious mane, thicker neck, wide jowls,
slightly raven (roman) nose which is also not a breed characteristic...hum looks familiar to me. How many
owners have individual, color portraits of their horses' nasal cavities?

Please check out Equus magazine. This month's featured articles: - Dr. Bennett's article "Working horses of the West" was
enthralling--a wonderful combination of history, romance of the West,
artwork, and education about conformation. - Plus a friend and I were
just discussing how best to trailer our horses so "Prevent shipping
fever" was very timely. - And the article on "Surprising findings about
saddle design" was revelatory. Finding saddles to fit Icelandics is
always a challenge so any good info is welcome.

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Last year, Blessi had his hocks injected. As I was leaving the house
to go to the stable, I noticed that I was wearing my sneakers, not the
safest barn attire. But did I go change? No. All I needed to do was
lead Blessi from the paddock to the barn and back. After all, Blessi is
very careful about my space and in 12 years he has stepped on my foot
less than 5 times--usually because I put my foot right
where his foot is
about to land.

The 15 minutes of leg scrubbing and 10
minutes of finding the injectable spaces between the hock bones went
well--Blessi was an angel. After it was all over, I intended to take a
folding chair to Blessi's run out shed to sit in the doorway and read
until Blessi recovered from the anesthesia. So off we go. I am
carrying a folding chair and my cell phone in one hand and leading a
somewhat drunk, stumbling Blessi in the other.

All is well until we get to the run out shed. Between managing cell
phone, chair, door, and stepping over the riser, I stumbled. Blessi was
right behind me and stumbled too. He tried not to step on me but
clipped the side of my foot. Luckily I have bruising between my big and
little toe but no damage. And the toes only hurt when I am wearing
shoes. Limping around the stable in my riding boots these days is a
constant reminder to always wear my boots to the barn